Win No. 17… It took a little longer than fans probably anticipated, but they matched their season win total from last year and it’s still January.

I know people are shifting gears toward tank mode, but this was a great game for some of the Laker youngsters.

D’Angelo Russell returned to the lineup and looked like the poised PG we want to see more of this season. His presence and impact was all over the court in this one with 22 points, a career-high 10 assists and 7 boards. He was joined by young Zubac with 17 points on 8-9 shooting, both with strong fourth quarters to close the game. There were contributions by others, but right now we’re looking toward the future…and the future looked bright tonight.

The key stretch in the game was the start of the fourth quarter. The Lakers had missed their first 6 shots, Luke calling a timeout, making subs and getting the team to respond as they made their next 14 of 15 shots.

“Denver picked up the intensity and our way of dealing with it was trying to go one on one instead of making the extra pass,” Luke said. “As much as I trust our bench, you have to earn your minutes to finish games and some of them didn’t earn their minutes by the way they played.”

The defense wasn’t great but it held the line, only giving up 17 points in the third. They shared the ball offensively and came up with the key stops they needed down the stretch against the Nuggets, holding on to a 120-116 win.

Russell -- -- Great balance to his game tonight. That’s not easy for him because I think he’s usually best when he’s scoring first. He was actually missing a lot of easy ones early on, but he was finding teammates for scores (should have probably had a couple more assists than what he got…Tarik took a little schooling from Russell for not keeping his hands in the ready position on one sure dunk). Luke said the 2 turnovers Russell had were good looks. In crunch time, Russell came up with the key jumper as well as some clutch FTs to ice the game. Kind of interesting watching Russell with Lou and Nick out there on the floor with him down the stretch. Nick, we know, there’s good chemistry. He doesn’t ball stop, just fires up good looks when he has them and this makes for a good chunk of assists for Russell. Lou, on the other hand, needs the ball more to be effective. But they kind of worked it out this game as the two of them tag teamed the playmaking in the final minutes. I wasn’t sure about that but they each sacrificed a little and came up with the win. The Stats: He scored 22 points on 7-17 shooting (2-7 from three, 6-8 from the line) to go with 7 boards, 10 assists, 2 turnovers, 1 steal, 1 block and 1 foul in 34 minutes. He was a +11. The Action: Great job pushing the ball up and hitting Nick at the right time for the layup. He missed a pull-up wing jumper. He probed the lane off the high screen and missed the short floater (got to knock those down). Soft touch on the short jumper in the paint and it dropped in. He sank the FT pull-up jumper working off the screen. He got tapped on a three in transition. He got blocked on a drive. He pulled up behind the screen and swished the three. He kicked out to Young for a three in transition. He missed a three off a screen. He attacked to his left and earned FTs, he missed both. He swatted his man from behind on a jumper. He had 7 points on 3-8 shooting and 4 assists. Second Half: He attacked and didn’t get the call as he flailed. He missed an elbow pull-up. He curled to the hoop and scored a layup. Great D to strip his man and it led to a breakaway dunk for Nick. He tried to thread a needle in transition, turnover. He hit Nick for a couple of threes. He drained the sideline catch-and-shoot three. He missed a short baseline jumper off a cut, got it back and hit the putback. He missed a two-for-one three form the wing. He missed a deep three at the end of the quarter. He hit Nick for another three. He probed and drew FTs, he made both. He missed a deep three. He sank the pull-up 17-footer off the Zubac screen, good body control and pose. He was fouled with 12.4 seconds left up 2, he made both clutch ones. He was fouled again with 4.2 up 2 again, he made both clutch ones again.

Black -- -- With Randle still fighting illness, Black stayed at the starting PF spot. Good job on the offensive boards with 4. We kind of got our butts kicked in the first half on the defensive glass, though. Props to the starters, though, for tightening up the D in the second half. We were better with Deng at PF in this game for floor spacing. You could see when we swung the ball to Black on the perimeter and no one was on him and he wasn’t about to take a jumper. That bogged some plays down. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 3-5 shooting (0-1 from the line) to go with 8 boards (4 offensive), 2 turnovers, 1 steal, 1 block and 3 fouls in 18 minutes. He was a +4. The Action: He grabbed a missed jumper and put it back in off a couple of pumpfakes. He couldn’t hold onto a pass that hit him in the hands (Russell was all over him on that one, would have been a dunk). He was ready for the drive and dish from Nick, which he turned into an And-1 layup, he missed the FT. Nice interior feed to Moz off the screen-roll to set him up for FTs. Nice D forcing Nelson into an airball. Second Half: He grabbed a board, faced up, spun baseline and scored the layup. He rejected Faried’s layup attempt. He was blocked on a layup attempt. He was stripped in the post.

Deng -- -- Poor start offensively, going 1-6 in the first half, but he had some nice moments on D, rejecting Faried a couple of times. If you are going to put together a lineup with our best defenders, he’s got to be on that list. A little of good, little things in this one in that regard. That +19 was a result of some of that D. Offensively, he made a three and had a couple nice drives. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 3-9 shooting (1-3 from three) to go with 4 boards, 1 assist, 3 turnovers, 1 steal, 2 blocks and no fouls in 31 minutes. He was a +19. The Action: He missed an elbow jumper off the brush screen to start the game. He missed a good look at a three. He attacked off the three line and hit the runner off the glass. He attacked to his right, missed the layup but Mozgov tipped it in. Way off on a long jumper after trying to create against the shotclock. He blocked Faried on help D. Bad post entry pass that was picked off, but he blocked a shot and controlled it to get it back a few seconds later. He missed a corner three. Second Half: He couldn’t finish in transition, getting block/stripped out of bounds. Great job dropping to the level of the ball for a steal. He scored a layup off the interior feed from Zubac. He swished a corner three on a kickout.

Mozgov -- -- Actually not a bad game from Mozgov and his numbers really should have looked better. Some good rim runs in the second half we found him on for easy points. I think they were purposely looking for him more in the second half, especially after missing him on some good position in the first half. They really needed to get him the ball more in the first half in the paint and were a bit negligent. Much better job as the game went along. He said they were really loud in talking on D in the game. I kind of wonder with Randle out if he’s not one of the bigger culprits in that regard. Really liked seeing him in Zubac’s ear with 35 seconds when he was called for the foul on the contest. Zubac specifically mentioned Mozgov after the game supporting him and helping. Mozgov liked Zu’s confidence, but said he’s going to have to be prepared for teams scouting his game. I think defensively, that’s going to be the case for sure. Offensively, not worried. The Stats: He scored 12 points on 4-5 shooting (4-4 from the line) to go with 6 boards, 3 blocks and 3 fouls in 22:31. He was a +13.The Action: He blocked a drive. He tipped in the miss off the Deng dribble penetration. He drew FTs on the interior feed from Black, he made both. Second Half: He fumbled a pass away under the hoop. He hit the wing jumper. He blocked his man at the rim. He hit the lefty jumphook after getting good position in the middle of the paint. Nice rim run to get a mismatch with Nelson and force a foul on the post entry, he made both FTs. Another rim run and Ingram fed him for the easy jumphook. He choked a weak-ass reverse off a great feed from Ingram (power up and finish!).

Young -- -- I mentioned this a little in Russell’s write-up but we had Russell, Lou and Young on the floor down the stretch. That’s a tough lineup to make work. The guys have to sacrifice their games a little and move the ball. Luke praised them for doing just that. “Nick was open for three and he swung it to Lou in the corner and Lou hit the three. I told the guys, that’s fun,” he said. So credit all those guys for keeping the offense flowing. Nick led the Lakers with 10 points on 4-9 shooting in the first half and followed that up 13 points on 5-6 shooting in the second half. He sank five threes (Lou had four). Put that kind of shooting around Russell and he’s going to get them some good looks and rack up the assists. “Shout out to D’Angelo Russell,” Nick said several times after the game. So-so game defensively by Nick. The Stats: He scored 23 points on 9-15 shooting (5-8 from three, 0-1 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 3 assists, 1 turnover, 1 steal and 2 fouls in 29:32. He was a +23. The Action: He filled a lane on the break and Russell found him for the layup. He hit a pull-up jumper at the FT line in transition next time down. He sank a three off the re-screen from Black. He missed a sideline three next time down. Way short on an elbow jumper. He swished a sideline three in transition. He attacked off the three line and wrapped a pass around the defender to Black for the And-1. He missed a three after upfaking his man. He airballed a wing three. Second Half: He missed the elbow jumper. He posted up the smaller Nelson, turned middle, then scored the And-1 on the step-through, he missed the FT. He nearly blew a dunk, losing control on the way up, but crammed it down. He sank the wing three on the feed from Russell. Good help on the other end to steal the ball on a reach. He swished a wing three a few seconds later. He fumbled away the pass on a backcut, turnover (robbing Ingram of an assist). He sank a three on the feed from Russell. Poor D on the other end, giving up an And-1 dunk.

Clarkson -- -- He had 3 turnovers in the first half and 1 steal. Two of those turnovers and that steal all came on the same play in transition, getting the ball swiped, stealing it back, then fumbling it away. That’s kind of how the game went for him today. Nick jokingly gave him a shout out for being a crackhead afterward. His best moments offensively were when he was moving the ball and not forcing things. Defensively, he had some good effort in that fourth. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 3-7 shooting (0-1 from three) to go with 3 boards, 2 assists, 3 turnovers, 1 steal and 1 foul in 21 minutes. He was a -15. The Action: He probed off the screen and hit the floater. He missed a wing jumper. He didn’t protect the ball, got it picked, stole it back, then lost it (two turnovers and a steal in about 5 seconds). He was picked trying to create on iso. He pulled up his dribble, pivoted one way, then back the other way and scored a layup. Awful sequence not hitting Mozgov who had great post position, then airballing the jumper after he crossed his man over and tried to get the highlight reel play. Second Half: He missed a short one in the paint. He hit Russell for the three (more please). He missed a wing three off the down screen. He kicked out to Deng for the three. He attacked off the screen and hit the floater in the lane.

Williams -- -- On the good side, loved some of the ball movement from him tonight. He had 7 assists. Normally, that would lead the team. Good chemistry with Zubac finding him on those pocket passes. Those two look good together with Zu’s ability to set screens and get open and Lou’s ability to score like a madman. Defensively, he had some good effort but just little impact…which is sketchy when you have him on the floor down the stretch and need stops. The Stats: He scored 21 points on 7-11 shooting (4-5 from three, 3-3 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 7 assists, 1 turnover, 2 steal and 1 foul in 24 minutes. He was a +1. The Action: He attacked from the wing and missed the short floater, but Zu cleaned it up. He attacked to his right and drew FTs, he made both. He swished a three off a high screen. He choked a layup on the slow cut play, but he got it back, attacked and fed Nance for a layup. He drained a three going left given space. He airballed a three having to force it up with the shotclock low. He had 8 points on 2-5 shooting and 3 assists. Second Half: He tried to attack a crowd in transition, turnover. He couldn’t draw FTs on a drive. Quick attack in early offense to draw contact, then he measured and drained the And-1 12-footer, he made the FT. He drained the corner three off the extra pass from Nick. He hit Zubac on the pocket pass for the floater. He drained a three off the horns set straight away. He turned the corner in early offense next time down and scored the lefty layup. He set up Zubac with another pocket pass for the floater. Quick attack in semi-transition and he scored a layup.

Ingram -- -- The shot was kind of ugly, especially that airball three and pull-up at the elbow he always seems to clank. Some great passes by Ingram in this game. There was a sequence in the first half where our two teenagers were doing some work. Ingram whipped a corner entry pass (pretty much on the catch) to Zubac under the hoop for an And-1 dunk. Then shortly later, Ingram threw down over his defender on a drive right. Love seeing moments from our rookies and love seeing Ingram play above the rim. Ingram had a really nice read on a backdoor cut off the weave to Nick, but Nick fumbled it away. Also some good recognition on Mozgov on the rim runs. He also hit Mozgov on a drive and dish, drawing a couple defenders, but Mozgov choked. I just like the read and react from him, executing very well, making the right pass at the right time. That’s an underrated skill and gets a little lost when he bricks. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-8 shooting (0-2 from three) to go with 2 boards, 1 assist, 1 block and 2 fouls in 21 minutes. He was a -12. The Action: He missed a wing three. He gave up a dunk on iso D. He attacked to his right and banked the one-hander. Quick corner entry to Zubac for an And-1 dunk. He attacked to his right in early offense and flushed over the defender (that’s what we want). Great job crashing the glass to knock a rebound away from Faried. Second Half: Nice post entry to Mozgov on the rim run for the easy jumphook. He was blocked on a drive right. He couldn’t finish a lob to start the quarter. He got body-checked on a drive with no call and missed. He airballed an open sideline three, uggh. He missed an elbow pull-up.

Nance -- -- Didn’t think much of this game from Nance. No rebounds in 18 minutes? He had little impact out there and few notes to match. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-3 shooting to go with 1 turnover, 2 blocks and no fouls in 18 minutes. He was a -19. The Action: Poor cross-court pass and it was picked off easily for points the other way. He missed a floater. He missed a wide open FT jumper. He scored a layup off the drive and dish from Lou. Second Half: He swatted a drive, but we couldn’t recover. He blocked another drive but we couldn’t recover.

Zubac -- -- Wow, that touch. The new career-high with 17 points and only missing one shot? At his age? Ridiculous. He had 9 points on 4-5 shooting in the first half, making everything look easy. He came back in for the fourth and showed the touch again. These weren’t easy shots, floaters on the move at his size, but he showed the serious skills. Luke let him close, even going to him on key possessions. Great learning experience for him and great to see him out there again with Russell…it’s been a long time since that Summer League action. “We only got like last couple of days,” Zubac said of practicing with Russell this season. Lou also set him up on those screen-rolls. Zubac makes himself and easy target. When you know he’s got that kind of touch and is usually making the right play, the guards trust him. Defensively, a little lax on the perimeter shooting bigs (I chalk this up to learning his opposition as much as anything else). He needs to learn to challenge with the proper hand at times. That got him into a little trouble on a couple of challenges he was whistled on. Looking forward to more minutes from him as they head out on the road now. “I don’t know what’s Grammy trip,” Zubac said. The Stats: He scored 17 points on 8-9 shooting (1-1 from the line) to go with 6 boards (3 offensive), 1 assist, 1 turnover and 4 fouls in 21 minutes. He was a -5. The Action: He backed down Faried and hit the jumphook out of the timeout. He tipped in the missed floater by Lou. He swished a jumphook in the middle of the paint off a busted play. He missed the baseline hook. He And-1 dunked off the quick corner entry from Ingram, he made the FT. Second Half: He grabbed a pass behind him in transition and scored a layup. Great interior feed to Deng for a layup. Great touch on the 10-foot floater off the pocket pass from Lou. Another two-man sequence with Lou and his floater was goaltended. Sweet touch on the floater in the lane again and he got the bounce.

Walton -- -- The Lakers forced a timeout off an 8-0 start with Nick and Russell scoring… The Lakers led 17-9 when the timeout came midway through the quarter. Good pace to the game for the Lakers… Nance in for Mozgov and Clarkson in for Young out of that… Zubac and Ingram in for Black and Deng up 3… The hybrid lineups doing their usual poor job as we try to switch gears to our full bench unit. The Lakers down 1 when the timeout came and Lou came in for Russell. So Zubac, Nance, Ingram, Clarkson, Lou lineup… Lakers not containing Faried… They were tied 30-30 after the first quarter… Russell in for Zubac, Lakers down 1… He sat Nance for Mozgov to match up with Faried… After Clarkson ballhogged a possession into an airball, Luke sat him for Young along with Deng for Ingram, Lakers up 1… The Lakers trailed 59-54 at the half… Lakers controlling the boards better… Ingram in for Deng, Lakers up 3… Lakers up 7 when Nance came in for Deng and Clarkson in for Young… Long run for Russell all quarter. No Zubac… The Lakers led 81-76 heading into the fourth… He started the Zubac, Nance, Ingram, Clarkson, Lou lineup… Quick timeout from Luke as the Lakers trailed by 1 after 90 seconds… He sat Ingram down 6 for Deng and Young now in, as well… Lou and Zubac getting some scores and they forced a timeout down 2… Russell in for Clarkson… More Lou and Zubac and the Lakers had a 3-point lead, forcing another timeout… Some defensive subs down the stretch… Good close by Russell in the final minute…

Last edited by DancingBarry on Tue Jan 31, 2017 11:22 pm; edited 1 time in total

It was a little ugly, pretty sloppy, but a good win - especially with them coming back at the end of the game to win. They've been really bad at closing games out for the last 2 months or so_________________BI, PG13, Kuz, Ball: the future core
Never argue with a fool - listeners can't tell you apart
Wilt's unstoppable fadeaway: www.youtube.com/watch?v=8O9MgNfcGJA
NPZ's Magic Johnson mix: www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8Qbo0WqvOI

Joined: 17 Sep 2008Posts: 15937Location: In a white room, with black curtains near the station

Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2017 12:01 am Post subject:

Thanks DB! I really enjoyed this game!! Great to see another potential star emerging, this time at the 5 spot. Good game big Zu. Also - really great to see DLO back and focused. 22 and 10 assists - yes!

Also - shout out to Nick Young and Lou Williams. I saw those assists from Lou to Zu - Williams CAN pass the ball. Amazing.

Considering that we have 6 young guys growing together, I have no qualms about wins or tanking or losing a draft pick. I'm all about wins and growing together...tonight was exactly that. No Randle and they had no Jokic. Solid win and I personally want wins. Screw the tank! If it happens, another youngster to build with but we have plenty of burgeoning, young talent!_________________Do you believe it now, Trinity? - Morpheous

Thanks DB! I really enjoyed this game!! Great to see another potential star emerging, this time at the 5 spot. Good game big Zu. Also - really great to see DLO back and focused. 22 and 10 assists - yes!

Also - shout out to Nick Young and Lou Williams. I saw those assists from Lou to Zu - Williams CAN pass the ball. Amazing.

There was a couple of games back in Dec or so where Lou put up some assists and he'd said afterwards that he'd once been a PG. I'd guess he can do it when there is some reason to expect it from him - in general, the Lakers just use him for instant scoring._________________BI, PG13, Kuz, Ball: the future core
Never argue with a fool - listeners can't tell you apart
Wilt's unstoppable fadeaway: www.youtube.com/watch?v=8O9MgNfcGJA
NPZ's Magic Johnson mix: www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8Qbo0WqvOI

Thanks DB! I really enjoyed this game!! Great to see another potential star emerging, this time at the 5 spot. Good game big Zu. Also - really great to see DLO back and focused. 22 and 10 assists - yes!

Also - shout out to Nick Young and Lou Williams. I saw those assists from Lou to Zu - Williams CAN pass the ball. Amazing.

There was a couple of games back in Dec or so where Lou put up some assists and he'd said afterwards that he'd once been a PG. I'd guess he can do it when there is some reason to expect it from him - in general, the Lakers just use him for instant scoring.

Say what you will about Nick, Lou and DLO, but I see them all as smart players with respectable court vision and not that selfish at all. I mean, they are scorers and as such need to think shoot first. But that said, they are all smart enough to make that extra pass if a teammate is open and a system established (thanks, Luke). JC has way more to learn in this department._________________.

Nuggets was a good team to play for these players. With neither team having the ability or desire to play good D, it allow the players (outside of Ingram) to have success in offense that provides them energy to play better D

This game confirms that DLO has basketball abilities, the upcoming games will provide indications that he can be the needed floornfeneral for years

Zuby = noice! The kid has superb touch, knows his spots and isn't afraid to bang in the post. A couple of questionable calls on him, that if he were more of a vet, those would probably be no calls. I also thought Moz had a good game as well.

This is the DLo we want to see. Very controlled game, like he had a vision of what he wanted to do rather than creating on the fly. Even a couple of his TOs were due to him making the right play (and taking a calculated risk), but his teammates not being ready. 1st double digit assist game? Surprising, but if Luke is having Randle be more of a Draymond-like playmaker, then I can understand why DLo has fewer assists.

Ingram shows flashes (his dunk and that bulletpass to Zuby), but he's still searching for his pro fit.

Joined: 17 Sep 2008Posts: 15937Location: In a white room, with black curtains near the station

Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2017 5:24 pm Post subject:

s_habe wrote:

P.K. wrote:

TooMuchMajicBuss wrote:

Thanks DB! I really enjoyed this game!! Great to see another potential star emerging, this time at the 5 spot. Good game big Zu. Also - really great to see DLO back and focused. 22 and 10 assists - yes!

Also - shout out to Nick Young and Lou Williams. I saw those assists from Lou to Zu - Williams CAN pass the ball. Amazing.

There was a couple of games back in Dec or so where Lou put up some assists and he'd said afterwards that he'd once been a PG. I'd guess he can do it when there is some reason to expect it from him - in general, the Lakers just use him for instant scoring.

Say what you will about Nick, Lou and DLO, but I see them all as smart players with respectable court vision and not that selfish at all. I mean, they are scorers and as such need to think shoot first. But that said, they are all smart enough to make that extra pass if a teammate is open and a system established (thanks, Luke). JC has way more to learn in this department.

A couple factors on Nick and Lou - Luke's got a real playbook for one thing, but I get a sense that Lou Williams can see that, if he passes the ball to Zubac, Big Zu is going to catch it! And do something good with it, be it a teardrop, sky hook or dunk. Like it was said earlier; great hands = easy target for guards.